Written by: Rev. Dr. Michelle R. Bodle
On a humid July morning, a bus filled with voices joined in an old song of hope: “We shall overcome. We shall overcome. We shall overcome, someday. Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe, we shall overcome, someday.”
From July 12-19, some forty travelers from the Susquehanna, Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Upper New York Annual Conferences embarked on a Civil Rights Journey, traveling to sacred sites of the Civil Rights Movement and hearing first-hand stories from those who lived through it. The journey began in Virginia and wove through Georgia and Alabama, with each stop deepening the call to continue the work for justice.
Guided by Dr. Todd Allen, Vice President for Diversity Affairs and Professor of Communication at Messiah University, the 2025 trip marked the second Civil Rights Journey for the Susquehanna Conference. This year marks Dr. Allen’s 24th year leading these trips, which have taken students, congregations, and organizations to the heart of the Civil Rights story. Participants do not travel as sightseers, but as spiritual pilgrims. Coming on the heels of a successful journey in 2022, The Commission on Building the Beloved Community offered this year’s journey to new and returning pilgrims alike.
In Charlottesville, the pilgrims visited the University of Virginia Memorial to Enslaved Laborers, a solemn tribute to the lives and labor of enslaved African Americans who helped build the university. Centrally located on campus, this memorial is open to the public. One of the more moving moments came when participants were encouraged to touch the flowing water at the center of the memorial and then press their hands to the sun-warmed stone engraved with names. As each palm touched the surface, a temporary handprint appeared - a powerful reminder that every presence leaves a mark on the work of justice.
After reflecting at the memorial, the delegation traveled south to Atlanta, Georgia, to the King Center - home to the final resting place of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King, the King Library and Archives, a reflecting pool and eternal flame, and both permanent and rotating museum exhibits. A rose garden on the grounds contains words from children reflecting on Dr. King’s legacy. One fourth grader, Sydney Tate, wrote:
“They tried to kill the dream when they shot Dr. King. But the dream he had remains alive, despite everything. The dream of equal justice, of freedom and liberty. The area where the whole world can live in one community.”
The journey then continued to Albany, Georgia, where the travelers met Ms. Rutha Harris at the Albany Civil Rights Institute. A member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and one of the original Freedom Singers, Ms. Harris shared songs of the Movement and invited participants to blend their voices with hers in the ongoing work for freedom.
Next, the journey took the pilgrims to the Lowndes County Interpretive Center in Alabama, one of three centers dedicated to telling the story of the Selma-to-Montgomery march for voting rights. Though not walking the full route, the group traveled to Selma where they met Civil Rights activist JoAnne Bland. At just eleven years old, Ms. Bland stood on the Edmund Pettus Bridge during Bloody Sunday in 1965. After touring the city by bus, the travelers crossed the bridge together, led by their youngest pilgrim, and concluded by sharing Holy Communion.
In Montgomery the following day, the participants visited the Equal Justice Initiative’s National Memorial for Peace and Justice, the Legacy Museum, and the surrounding gardens. These spaces tell the untold story of slavery’s legacy, including the tragedy of lynching and the violence of the slave trade and Jim Crow era.
That afternoon and evening featured three guest speakers. First was Anthony Ray Hinton, activist and author, who was wrongly convicted of murder in 1985 and spent twenty-eight years on death row before being exonerated through EJI’s work in 2015. Speaking on forgiveness, Mr. Hinton offered both comfort and challenge to the assembly.
The travelers also heard from Carolyn McKinstry and Lisa McNair. Ms. McKinstry was an eyewitness to the 1963 bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church and later marched with Dr. King in Birmingham. Ms. McNair is the sister of Denise McNair, one of the girls killed in that bombing. Though Ms. McNair never met her sister, she carries her legacy forward by speaking about racial reconciliation and anti-racism. On July 17, with the words of these two women fresh in their hearts, the group toured the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church and the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.
On the final day before returning to Camp Hill, the delegation visited the National Museum of African American Music in Nashville. This space is dedicated to telling the story of African American musical influence throughout history.
Just as the trip began in song, so too did it end - the pilgrims lifting their voices together to sing “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine,” affirming their desire to continue the work of building the Beloved Community.
Though there are far more sacred moments than can be captured in a single reflection, the words of the Movement carry us all forward. This is not only the work of those who made the journey, but of all people of faith and all members of the Susquehanna Annual Conference. As future journeys are planned and offered, may all who hear these stories be inspired to take part in the ongoing work of seeking justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly with our God.
In the words engraved at the Charles Sherrod Civil Rights Park in Albany, Georgia: “May God grant you the power to continue.”
View Additional Photos taken by Western PA United Methodist Church Conference